VERBATIM
with Joseph Udofia
07060590485SEPTEMBER 30- 5 students in Maiduguri
OCTOBER 1- 45 students of Mubi Polytechnic, Adamaawa
OCTOBER 5- 4 students of University of Port Harcourt
In the space of one week, at least 54 students in three different tertiary institutions have lost their lives due to allegations ranging from theft to cultism. The Maiduguri case did not get much attention since Boko Haram’s mayhem is the order of the day, the Mubi Polytechnic didn’t get much attention either, except a few media organizations that published pictures and stories about the case. This would have been the fate of the young men from University of Port-Harcourt who were lynched in Aluu community, a location about 30 metres from the main campus, but for the video that was circulated and peaked at number one on the video sharing website YouTube shortly before it was removed.
Scourged, molested, naked and burnt! This was the fate of four enterprising, charming, and beaming young men of the University of Port-Harcourt who allegedly stole a blackberry phone and a laptop. Watching this gruesome video and still struggling to erase the graphic images of the 45 students of Mubi Polytechnic, Adamawa who were murdered in cold blood, I got queasy. Not just queasy, but vexed because I could not fathom what security agents in Nigeria do.
Ugonna Kelechi (200L Geology),Mike Lloyd (200L Civil Engineering), both winners of a Rapping Contest organized by Silverbird Television few years back, Biringa Chiadiaka, (200L Theatre arts), Tekena Erikena (200L Computer science) were victims of this heinous crime against humanity. Even if they stole a gold vault worth millions of dollars, when did Nigeria become a lawless society? Where did we throw our conscience as humans? Even animals don’t kill preys except for the purpose of feeding.
Now to those that need serious slaps:
1. The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Aluu community, if any, needs serious reprimanding. The claim by the Policemen who were at the scene of the mayhem that they were outnumbered by the mob is totally unacceptable, stupid and lame to say the least. The Nigeria Police boasts of about 371, 800 sworn officers, averaging a little more than 10,000 per state. So what really do the Police mean by ‘’being outnumbered’’. What happened to the firepower of guns and the blinding effect of tear gas. When did clubs and machetes become matches for AK-47 and other rifles?
2. Alhaji Hassan Walewa, the village traditional ruler and a muslim leader in the same community, after interrogating the suspects gave a nod to the vigilante team, prompting the parading of the four guys round the community and the subsequent lynching. What is really stunning is that a leader, who is supposed to lead by example and a Muslim at that, whose religion professes peace, consented, or better still, initiated the killings leaves little to be desired of.
3. NANS/UNIPORT students must have forgotten the saying that ‘’an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind’’. Taking to the Aluu community to tear down houses and burn cars in the name of revenge has just equated them to the people who unleashed the mayhem.
4. Mr President, who gave a speech on Tuesday, October 9, four days after this killing did not even say a word of condolence to the families of the affected victims. This submits to me that Mr President sees the student populace as insignificant. This is a shame to this country.
In civilized climes, where an injustice to one is seen as an injustice to all, Nigerian students nationwide will take to the streets to protest this injustice. Unfortunately, our voices have been gagged and there seems to be no one who wants to bell the cat. NANS hinted she will use her constitutional power to agitate for the right of Nigerian students if government and other stakeholders fail to meet their demands in 48 hours with effect from Thursday 11th October, but this has fallen on deaf ears. In my own little way, I hereby write and demand that the National Association of Nigerian Students, call a nationwide congress and have Nigerian students protest for their right to life and good security and demand justice for the slain students.
If an injustice to one is an injustice to all, then an injustice to four is an injustice to all students, all parents, all citizens and in fact all humans. I, as a Nigerian, and living just and true demand Justice for the ALUU 4.
N.B: This article by Joseph Udofia is a featured column on CODED-ish. Joseph Udofia is a student of Petroleum Engineering, University Of Ibadan. Are you a writer? Do you want others to read your perspective on tropical issues? Then you can send your articles to codedishblog@gmail.com. CODED-ish!
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